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Fraud charges for man portrayed in 'Fighter'

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

Updated:
11/22/2012 06:35:15 AM EST

A Lowell man who was portrayed in a small role as one of Dicky Eklund's friends in the movie The Fighter allegedly stole credit cards from a gym in Belmont, N.H., and was caught when he tried using one in an adjacent grocery store.

Gary Giuffrida, 58, was arrested Monday and arraigned the next day. As of Wednesday, he was being held at the Belknap County House of Corrections on $2,500 cash bail and $5,000 personal-recognizance bail.

Charges included three counts of receiving stolen property and two counts of fraudulent use of a credit card. He was also charged with breach of jail from a prior arrest in Tilton, N.H., according to Belmont police. He will also be charged with assaulting a Belmont police officer and damaging booking-room cameras in the Belmont police station.

Belmont is a small town near Lake Winnipesaukee.

Giuffrida, whose last known address is a hotel in Tilton, was caught when he tried using a credit card he stole from a locker at a Planet Fitness gym in an adjacent Shaw's grocery store in the Belknap Mall, said Belmont police Sgt. Richard Mann. Officers who called the credit-card company were told the card had just been used at Shaw's, and were able to arrest Giuffrida, he said.

In addition to the credit cards, he also allegedly stole a pair of sunglasses, bags of clothing and other personal items. Giuffrida had tried to purchase alcohol and cigarettes but didn't know the PIN, and the transaction failed, The Laconia Daily Sun reported, citing a police affidavit.

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Giuffrida was portrayed by actor Paul Campbell in The Fighter as a crack-addicted friend of Dicky Eklund. He was also a main character, along with Eklund, in the 1995 HBO documentary High on Crack Street, Lost Lives in Lowell, which chronicled their struggles with drug addiction.

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